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The Boston Celtics continue to have success against the Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference semifinals in NBA playoff games on Tuesday.
The nuggets advance, they make history
Nikola Jokic scored 30 points, including the tiebreaker basket, to lead the Denver Nuggets to beat the Utah Jazz 80-78 in Game 7 of the first round of the Western Conference playoff series.
Jokic made the winning hook shot with 27 seconds left. Utah called a timeout and Donovan Mitchell received the ball, but Denver took it away.
The Nuggets missed a fast break and Utah bounced the ball to Mike Conley, who failed to convert a jump shot.
Jamal Murray added 17 points as the third-seeded Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference semifinals against second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
The Nuggets became the twelfth team in league history to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the series, following the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Denver won Game 1, but the Jazz took the next three games until the Nuggets triumphed in the next three games to win the series 4-3.
Celtics Claw Raptors
The Boston Celtics came back in the fourth quarter led by Marcus Smart to beat the Toronto Raptors 102-99 in Game 2 of their best-of-seven semifinal series in the Eastern Conference.
Boston trailed the Raptors 78-70 going into the fourth but Smart drilled three 3s to put the Celtics within 80-79 and tied the game 82, all with another triple later.
The Celtics took the 86-85 lead with 7:55 left in the game and halted the Raptors’ repeated comeback to await victory.
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, his best in the playoffs, while Smart added 19. Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown had 17 and 16 points for the Celtics.
OG Anunoby scored 20 and Fred VenVleet 19 for the Raptors who have not won in three games against the Celtics at the restart of the season.
Thunder force of life or death against Rockets
The Oklahoma City Thunder forced a Game 7 life or death in their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Houston Rockets by winning Game 6 104-100 on Tuesday.
Chris Paul scored 28 points for the Thunder, who can reach the second round on Wednesday and face the Los Angeles Lakers. Danilo Gallinari added 25 points for Oklahoma.
James Harden scored 32 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists for Houston. Robert Covington contributed 18 and Russell Westbrook 17.
The game was closed from the start with neither team leading by double digits and it wasn’t decided until the last 10 seconds.
After the score tied 100-100, Paul made two free throws and Gallinari made two more after a loss by Westbrook to freeze the game.
Former PBA importer observed by Bulls as coach
A former PBA import is one of the candidates for the Chicago Bulls head coach job vacated by Jim Boylen, who was fired.
The team is now speaking with Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, who played for Talk N ‘Text Phone Pals in 2006.
Ham, however, has plenty of competition, including fellow league assistant coaches and a former Brooklyn Nets foreman, for the Bulls head coach job that Phil Jackson successfully filled.
Brandon Ingram named Most Improved Player
New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram took some comfort this season when he was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player on Monday.
Ingram, who was traded to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis, defeated Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Devonte Graham of the Charlotte Hornets for the award.
Ingram, soon to be 23, averaged 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists, and made 137 3-pointers in 56 games before the season was halted after Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for COVID. -19.
Ingram is an All-Star and is the first Pelican to win the award.
The Pelicans were eliminated from the playoffs. (Compiled by Tristan Lozano)
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